Asks in a ‘special’ way to renew vows

As Judy Racca read through The Daily Iberian last Tuesday, she never expected to see a picture of herself.

But when she turned the front page, Racca found a picture of her and her husband, Normand, with words under it that read, “25 years to the past, lets put 25 more to the future. The mistakes that I’ve made could have caused me to lose you. So I want to do it right this time and never misuse you ... Judy, will you marry me?”

“My husband (Normand) was supposed to be offshore, but he wasn’t,” she said. “He was next to me when I read it, and when I looked over he was down on one knee and proposed to me again.”

With their 25th wedding anniversary approaching March 15, 2009, Normand Racca Jr. said he wanted to find a “special” way to ask her to renew their wedding vows.

After thinking about it for a while, Racca, 40, decided to place an ad in The Daily Iberian.

“I didn’t know any other way to ask her to marry me again in a special way,” he said.

The ad was in black-and-white, four columns wide and 7 1/2 inches deep.

His wife, 41, said she usually picks up a paper a couple of times a week, but her son called and asked her to check the classified ads for an apartment listing to ensure she read the paper that day.

“He kind of fooled

me,” she said.

 “I was  shocked ... speechless, and I said ‘yes.’ We’ve been through good times and bad, but the vows say for better or for worse.”

Racca said several friends and family members saw the ad and called to say it was cute, except for her sister Barbara.

 “Her sister said, ‘Are you crazy? You’re going to marry him again?’ But she was joking,” said Racca. “After 25 years, you have your ups and downs.”

The couple are planning to have a vow-renewal ceremony on the day of their 25th wedding anniversary. Though the plans are not set yet, Racca said she hopes the person officiating will be Johnny Hebert, the justice of the peace who married them 25 years ago.